Conference calling (or “teleconferencing”) enables users to conduct a meeting at the same time, without having to come together in the same physical location. Typically, potential users who will participate in the teleconference will receive a dial-in number that allows the users to join the conference. After dialing the conference-call dial-in number, the users may be required to enter an access code and/or a pass code. Upon validation of these codes, the users will be connected to the call. The users can then all speak to one another.
Teleconferences can be useful for “road warriors”—those employees who are constantly traveling on behalf of their company and connect with their fellow employees or clients using their mobile device. Invitations to participate in a teleconference can come via electronic mail to their phones, and a reminder of the teleconference can be scheduled to pop up on the user's phone when the teleconference is about to begin. On some phones, a button reading “Join Now” or “Dial Now” may be displayed to the user. By extracting the dial-in number, the phone can facilitate joining the teleconference by automatically dialing the dial-in number and/or the pass code when the user presses the button.
A problem arises when a teleconference provider does not provide an appropriate dial-in number. For example, this can happen when users travel abroad with their mobile devices, but are required or requested to participate in a teleconference. An electronic mail message can arrive requesting their attendance in the teleconference, but the message only provides a dial-in number that is local to the device's home country or the home country of the sender of the mail message. Calling that number while overseas could subject the user to high overage fees, roaming charges, and exorbitant per-minute charges. For example, a user who normally lives in Canada, but currently is in Brazil on business, may not want to participate in a teleconference by dialing a Canadian telephone number by pressing the “Join Now” button, because of the high long-distance and roaming fees that would likely result from calling a Canadian number while in Brazil.